Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the important first step is almost complete, which is to finally have a comprehensive plan for the facility which also includes, as I indicated, a review of the acuity levels of all of the elders in the Sahtu region. When we get the final agreement in terms of the options, then we can determine the costs. Based on that, we can see how fast we can move on that part of the six-unit piece. I know the Housing Corporation is very interested and is willing to be, and has been, a partner in this project from the start. We are going to work together to move on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a working group comprised of officials from the department and from the Sahtu region, as well as a community member from Deline, looking at the best use for this facility. Initially, there was a thought and suggestion that we should be looking at a long-term care facility. What has come out of the work that has been done there are a number of things. Firstly, in order to get a better assessment of the level of need among the elders, they did a thorough review in the region of every elder and their acuity level, which came back with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have some arrangements with some organizations and businesses in the Northwest Territories. I will make sure that we have a comprehensive reply for the Member by the end of session.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated to the Member, once we get the final document, and we agree on the course of action in conjunction with all the stakeholders who are involved in the committee, then we will be able to determine how fast we can move on whatever course of action is determined to be the best. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that we are just waiting for some final confirmation from the community member that was on the committee, at which point we would be able to build the next steps into the planning processes. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a department of this government, we follow the contracting guidelines that are there for all government departments to follow. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have contractual arrangements, in actual fact, with all the doctors. They’re on salary, but they all have contracts. In fact we do, I think, still have four fee-for-service doctors in Yellowknife. So the issue of fee-for-service is a reality that exists in the North and we can’t exclude them from anywhere else, in my opinion, if they exist in Yellowknife. We’ve already accepted that fact. So there’s nothing, in my opinion, to preclude a doctor from setting up a fee-for-service arrangement. We already have the basic process set up in Yellowknife as we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member referenced the fee-for-service and at one point there were fee-for-service doctors who made a decision to switch to salary positions. There have been concerns ever since about productivity issues; we work with the doctors and have tried to address that; we have added more doctors; we are going to continue to work with the doctors and the authorities to recruit.

The Member points out a problem that is an issue, and that is the access to doctors. I can tell you that the constituency that I represent has the same circumstance. I still, on a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in fact, we do invest millions of dollars. We had initiated and completed two years of a three-year plan for mental health and addictions. For the third year, we have the funding there and we are taking the time to review where we’ve been, where we are and where is the best direction to go. I have approached the committee for their input. We have also gone to the authorities. We are also going to have Ms. Chalmers, the author of the State of Emergency report that initiated this plan three years ago now, to take a look to see the work that we have done. In...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are working with a number of groups, and we give all these proposals serious consideration of what fiscal resources may be available to meet such requests. Thank you.